Climate records fall ‘like dominoes’ in world’s hottest year

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The world will experience its hottest year in 2023, with global average temperatures rising by around 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and “climate records falling like dominoes,” the European Earth Observation Organization said.

Scientists at the Copernicus Climate Change Office say last year was the first time since records began that temperatures were at least 1 degree Celsius warmer each day than pre-industrial levels, before anthropogenic climate change began to take effect. Stated.

Almost half of the days in 2023 were 1.5 degrees warmer, and there were two days in November that were 2 degrees warmer or more.

Copernicus said the “unprecedented” global temperatures since last June meant the average daily temperature of 14.98C was 0.17C higher than the previous hottest year in 2016.

Met Office climate scientist Nick Dunstone said 2024 is “another record-breaking year” as a result of the continued strength of the naturally occurring El Nino phenomenon, which heats the Pacific surface and exacerbates global warming. said it would be. by greenhouse gases.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries pledged to limit long-term temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius, ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius, above pre-industrial levels.

Copernicus pointed out that although the Earth reached this temperature repeatedly last year, it was a short-term violation and did not mean countries were not honoring agreements on long-term global averages. But he warned the high temperatures had set a “disastrous precedent”.

Mauro Facchini, head of Earth Observation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Defense Industry and Space, said the data showed “further evidence that the impacts of climate change are increasing.”

Scientists say extreme weather events will become more frequent and more intense as the planet warms, and that limiting warming to 1.5 degrees requires urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions by almost 45 percent by 2030. It warns that steps need to be taken. We are currently heading towards 3 degrees Celsius.

“Every tenth of a degree matters,” said Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute. “Aiming to keep temperatures at 1.5 degrees Celsius is more important than ever. But even if we end up with temperatures of 1.6 degrees, we will give up and get closer to 3 degrees without trying. Much better than that. With current policies, we’ll get there.”

The planet experienced its hottest summer on record last year, with heatwaves, wildfires and floods devastating many parts of the world and showing that governments are unprepared for the effects of climate change. Otto said.

Last month also ranked as the warmest December on record, marking the seventh consecutive month on record. The average temperature in December was 13.51°C, 1.78°C above the level for the same month between 1850 and 1900.

Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess emphasized the historic and persistent nature of climate change reflected in the data. “Temperatures in 2023 are likely to exceed temperatures of at least the past 100,000 years,” she says.

The scientist said global average sea surface temperatures in 2023 were unusually high, reaching record levels for this time of year from April to December.

El Nino has caused temperatures to rise over the past six months, but Copernicus said sea surface temperatures outside the equatorial Pacific Ocean are also at record highs, and natural phenomena account for all of the rise in sea surface temperatures. He said that was not the case.

Scientists also observed that greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have reached the highest level ever recorded, at 422 parts per million per year, compared to the pre-industrial era average of 280 parts per million.